CUSU/GU Election results 2019: as it happened
Join Varsity live at the CUSU lounge, as we report on the results of this year’s CUSU and GU races!
Live Text
(Refreshes automatically)- Edward Parker Humphreys has claimed victory as CUSU President
- Alessandro Ceccarelli has been elected as Graduate Union President
- Ali Hyde has won the election for Education Officer, in the narrowest election of the night
- Jess O'Brien has secured the role of Disabled Students' Officer
- Lily-Rose Sharry will take up the position of Access and Funding Officer
- Poppy Cockburn has been elected as University Councillor
- Stella Swain won the election as Welfare and Rights Officer
- Kate Litman has been elected as Women's Officer
- Turnout in this year's CUSU elections was the highest ever, with 22.2% of eligible voters casting a ballot
10:10pm And that's all from us at Varsity! Thank you for joining our coverage of hustings.
For more information, read our pieces about Parker Humphreys' victory, and those of the newly-elected sabbatical officers.
9:51pm Edward Parker Humphreys has secured victory as next year's CUSU President, securing a margin of more than 1,000 votes over opponent Shadab Ahmed.
This victory matches the predictions of Varsity's poll, with a margin of error of 0.1%.
9:45pm Jess O'Brien, Disabled Students' Officer-elect has sent Varsity a picture of her own celebration!
— Varsity Liveblog Photos (@varsityphotos1) March 8, 2019
9:44pm The CUSU Presidents are up next, with only six minutes to go until the announcement
— Varsity Liveblog Photos (@varsityphotos1) March 8, 2019
9:38pm Alessandro Cecarelli has won the position of Graduate Union president, beating Devarchan Banerjee in the third round of voting after RON, then Jack Chadwick, were eliminated as candidates. The win was an extremely tight one – although less surprising given the election's relatively low turnout. Alessandro won with 473 votes in the final round of voting, to Banerjee's 450 votes.
9:32pm The Spotify playlist ramps up as the night wears on. We're currently enjoying Taylor Swift's 'Look What You Made Me Do' from the 2017 album Reputation, which reached number 5 in the New York Times' 'Best Albums of 2017'.
— Varsity Liveblog Photos (@varsityphotos1) March 8, 2019
9:31pm Next up are the results for Graduate Union president – the most contested race of the elections, although also with the lowest turnout. In the running are Alessandro Ceccarelli, Jack Chadwick and Devarchan Banerjee. Controversy marred the final hours of the race, with Chadwick being issued a campaigning ban earlier today.
9:25pm With Hyde edging to victory by the smallest of margins, there was visible surprise in the room.
— Varsity Liveblog Photos (@varsityphotos1) March 8, 2019
9:21pm In the narrowest race so far, Ali Hyde will take up the position of CUSU Education Officer, having won in the second round run-off after RON was eliminated, with 1,748 votes. His opponent, Howard Chae, secured 1,701 votes.
Both candidates in the race for CUSU Education Officer, the next position to be announced, are high-profile students with heavy experience in governance structures. The question is: who will ultimately take victory?
9:09pm The results for DSO in the second round of vote-counting, after RON as a candidate was eliminated, with O'Brien taking it over Walters by a margin of 119 votes.
— Varsity Liveblog Photos (@varsityphotos1) March 8, 2019
9:07pm Jess O'Brien wins the race to become the next Disabled Students' Officer in the second round after RON was eliminated, ultimately beating Beth Walters by 1,213 votes to 1,094.
This was the first contested election for DSO ever.
9:01pm Cheesier than any CUSU election video? Those turning out to watch the results are marvelling at the high-quality snacks on offer
— Varsity Liveblog Photos (@varsityphotos1) March 8, 2019
8:59pm Current CUSU Education Officer Matt Kite is behind the bar. As the room fills up with a lively atmosphere, does this fate await next year's sabbs?
— Varsity Liveblog Photos (@varsityphotos1) March 8, 2019
8:53pm Lily-Rose Sharry has been elected CUSU Access and Funding officers in a landslide, having won 2,188 votes. Her opponent, Ashley Woodvine, secured 1,212 votes.
8:38pm Poppy Cockburn becomes the next University Councillor, having promised to push for divestment in the University's governance structures
— Varsity Liveblog Photos (@varsityphotos1) March 8, 2019
8:37pm Scenes from earlier this evening, as Kate Litman celebrated securing the position of Women's Officer
— Varsity Liveblog Photos (@varsityphotos1) March 8, 2019
8:36pm Poppy Cockburn, a first year undergraduate, has been elected as University Councillor, winning 1,727 votes. Her opponent, Tamzin Byrne, won 986 votes.
8:32pm Next up is the race for University Councillor. Read Varsity's analysis of the two candidates at last week's hustings. Both bring different levels of experience and approaches to divestment to the table – which have proved to be crucial issues in debate in the run-up to the elections.
8:27pm Next up – the candidate for CUSU/GU Welfare & Rights Officer. Winning with a landslide of 2,048 votes, Stella Swain has been elected to the role. Her rival in the race, Cici Carey-Stuart, received 945 votes, while RON secured 395 votes.
8:27pm The Women's Officer election was set to be a competitive one: as are all of the other elections. Looking towards the presidential election, Varsity's poll predicted a victory for former Jesus JCR President Edward Parker Humphreys, who gained support from 60.4% of the students who participated in the poll.
8:18pm Kate Litman has been elected as Women's Officer, defeating Finley Kidd. Litman won in the second round after second preference votes from RON votes were counted. Litman received 1,439 votes, while Kidd received 1,271 votes.
8:13pm First up – the election of CUSU's part-time ethical affairs officers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the uncontested incumbent candidates, Jake Simms and Alice Gilderdale have secured re-election. Each of them secured over 1,200 votes, beating Re-open Nominations (the third candidate).
8:13pm Turnout this year was 22.2%, with the highest number of votes ever cast in a CUSU election. The college with the highest turnout was Robinson, which saw 54.1% of its students cast a ballot, representing 350 votes. Students at the College are set to win a free pizza party.
GU elections had a 9.76% turnout, with over 1,000 votes cast for the second year running.
Robinson and Jesus were competing heavily throughout the week to be the college with highest turnout. In the end, Robinson pipped Jesus' 51.1% turnout, while St Catharine's languished behind in first place with 45.4%.
8:10pm Welcome to Varsity's liveblog of the CUSU and GU result announcements 2019! Join us for live updates of results as they come out
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